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Scientists have a new weapon against HIV: your phone

In a fast-evolving fight against HIV, public-health workers have a powerful new ally: Most Americans at risk of contracting the virus carry powerful smartphones that they check again and again over the course of the day.

In recent years, we’ve seen revolutionary advances in HIV prevention that could help us achieve a sustained decline in new infections and envision an end of the epidemic. Smartphones can help us make the most of those advances.

By the mid-1990s, major breakthroughs in HIV treatment had upended the disease’s image as a “death sentence” and made it possible for those affected to lead long and healthy lives. Yet the number of new cases in many parts of the world has increased or remained stubbornly flat for much of the last three decades. For much of that time, condoms were virtually the only option to stop the spread of HIV through sex, and getting tested required an afternoon at the doctor’s office.